French Joint Honours
Your degree and what you’ll study
At entry, French must be combined with one other subject. In later years you will be able to select additional subjects and electives and will have the option to graduate with French as a Single Honours degree, a Joint Honours degree, or a Major with a Minor.
For a list of Joint Honours subjects with French, please click here.
The development of reading, analytical, and critical skills, in the form of both oral tasks and written exercises in French, forms the bedrock of this course. Students are expected to progress to a high level of competence in the four basic linguistic skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing. This includes nurturing an ability to cope with different registers and styles of written and spoken French and to reflect critically on the way the language is used and structured. A range of optional subjects are available over the course of the four years.
First and Second Years
The programme in first year includes an introduction to French language, literature, and history. First year subject areas include: (i) French grammar and grammatical analysis, (ii) written and oral comprehension and (iii) modern fiction, theatre, cinema and poetry. In the first year (Junior Fresh), you will spend four contact hours each week working on French language and grammar, and three contact hours each week studying literature and contemporary French history and society. In the second year (Senior Fresh), you will build on this foundation by following courses in the history of French ideas and politics, French literature, French linguistics and in the practice of the French language itself.
Third and Fourth Years
In third and fourth year, a wide variety of optional subjects leading on from courses previously undertaken in first and second year are available. These range from Renaissance and Enlightenment writing to Romantic and Modern French literature; from French language, politics, society and identity to French critical theory, philosophy, history and cinema. In your final year, you will research and write a Capstone project in English or French on a subject of your choice in consultation with a supervisor.
Capstone
In your final year of study you will undertake a Capstone project - an independent research project which comprises an in-depth investigation of a specific area of scholarship. The Capstone project is a catalyst to enable you to reflect on your learning from the programme as a whole and to demonstrate your ability to think independently, communicate effectively, develop continuously and act responsibly as you transition to the world of work or to postgraduate studies.
Assessment
At all levels, you will be assessed by a combination of continuous assessment and exams. We use a mix of traditional and innovative continuous assessment methods - essays, project work, presentations, book reviews and dossiers, podcast creation. Language modules are traditionally assessed by written, oral and aural examinations. Final year students also write a Capstone project.